You need to shed off your principle of generalisation. What maybe applicable to other bikes IS NOT applicable to SBKs on Indian road conditions, and that is all what I am saying.
Consider this : I take a ride after full blown rains, let the tyres warm for 20 mins and then have to suddenly brake because of

• Poor visibility to see the moronic pedestrian in the mid of the highway.
• a truck decided to take a u turn in my lane.
• a dog thought it was funny to pee in the mid of the road.

Now good luck braking on mud/oil/potholes if you have any considerable speeds.
It is the CONDITIONS and SURROUNDINGS that is making riding a powerful machine in rains risky and not just the wet roads. Do you see me crying out loud that I will be riding the Ninja ?

Also...a tyre NEVER gives the same traction in wet as in dry.
@Spidey : Simply saying seniors have tried and tested it on roads means nothing if the facts are all wrong..
'A tyre gives same traction after full blown rains' I know this thinking not only exists on our indian roads but it thrives and multiplies like the pest. But nothing could be further from the truth. This is another fine example of folklore. Its simply not true.
SBKs come with soft compunds for dry conditions. These are to an extent all weather tyres but nothing like what we have on other bikes. Other bikes have a treadblock design.
The tread block design is normally a compromise between quiet running and water dispersion - the tyre should not be too noisy in normal use but should work fairly well in downpours and on wet roads. The treads on SBK soft compounds are kept to minimal to enhance grip and performance during cornering stresses....riding it in the wet on these tyres is what even the manufacturer stongly advises you against. If you want to ride in rains buy wet tyres ! Its that simple..

Why do you think manufacturers make

• summer tyres
• winter tyres
• wet weather tyres
• mud tyres
• snow mud and ice tyres
• all terrain tyres

I bet your lap times will drop by 20 seconds in wet conditions !

First of all, lap times don't fall by 5-10 seconds on an average. Please check again.

How comfy you are in wet weather depends on how comfy you feel and not related to the bike you are riding. If you are afraid about falling from a CD100, you will obviously be afraid about falling from a SBK.

Secondly, riding with steady inputs in a progressive manner is applicable to all kinds of riding in all weather.

First of all, I don't think a dog peeing on the road will make much difference in full blown rains.

If you apply the same braking principals which you apply in dry weather, you will be fine. Do you brake while cornering even in dry condition? Do you apply rear brake (now this question has become redundant for your blade) while leaning?

Now Instead of hijacking ashtorque's thread, let's stop this discussion and talk about some sinister plans of how to pinch his bike at night

over here to save ash's thread

Having ridden these big bikes at the track at a decent pace ( Check my philip island thread) in the dry and wet I can assure you that there is absolutely no way in hell that you will be able to ride at the same pace in the wet as you do in the dry on the same tyres. If you ever have a look and feel of full wet weather grooved tyres you will be able to tell how soft they are. Their maximum temperature is 55degress compared to 80 odd degrees of full slicks. both tyres are completely different.

I have also commuted in the rain on the zx10 and as long as you are careful and have some common sense its not too bad. You just have to be careful braking and be very weary of your throttle hand. Also paint on roads is extremely slippery and so is the mud and other stuff in india. The concrete roads in india are also completely different to the bitumen roads here that have more grip.

Ill also be over in india for a few months from june, so if you want some tips and pointers for cornering , Ill be happly to help out.

cheers

quoting your reply at SBK thread(the link mentioned above)

Whats with this discussion .... see, the bottom line is your experience and your instincts . Thats all .. you cant do a theory and go to roads with that in mind (except maybe on tracks where conditions are known and carefully recorded). No two roads are same. There are millions of possibilities, permutations, combination. Just go out there, be careful and never ride out of your limits.. simple , innit ?

Sorry to hijack this thread but unfortunately thats not the case fireblah. What you have is an incredible piece of machinery that can vastly improve your riding if you want. You can practise each on the many different elements of riding everytime you get on the bike.

Again Im talking from experience. I rode for a solid year and a bit and I thought I could ride alright till I came off for the first time.Then I realised I didnt know much about riding at all. I asked a few more experienced guys to teach me how to corner, about throttle control, braking properly. I learnt more in one day that I did in the entire year making me a safer rider. I still go out and look for better riders so I can learn from them as much as I can.

Knowing the road helps a lot but smooth throttle control, looking through the corner, body position, finding good lines, counter steering, and braking is something you can practise on all corners even if you dont know them.

lol...ofcourse it depends on the bike you are riding..
I wont give a rats ass about riding a 100cc in wet conditions for the first time ever in life ( first time meanin I wont be comfy on it at all).

So its that easy eh ? Easier said than done !
NO ! You can afford to have aggressive (not progressive) inputs in good dry conditions.
In wet if you are not easy on inputs you are toast in 2 mins.

In the MID of the road. If the dog is peeing in the mid of the road it isnt his pee which is my worry lol...its the whole freakin dog in the MID of the road. His pee wont make me skid lol..
Even if i buy your point it only sorts my braking issues. I have tons of other issues in wet..like throttle control and lean angle issues...applying same principles which i apply in dry weather to these issues is suicide.

No ! I shall have my argument ! I am a 10 year old kid
Mods we all are super good friends in real life. We are meaning to learn through this interaction as others also chime in their opinions. Ashtorque has no issues !

It will be of help if people backup their point with real-life experiences (e.g. csgup1) instead of bookish gyan.

Anyway, guys...this Sunday's ride to Mahabaleshwar exit was awesome; especially the ghat section. Cornering is so fun, although I am at a kindergarten-stage . And I am begining to believe the quote I read somewhere "straight road is merely a connection between 2 corners". There was a decent turnout as mentioned below, even though we rode in 2 batches:
4 busas
2 CBR 600RR
3 Fireblades
2 Gixxer 1000
1 Gixxer 600
1 R15
1 Pulsar
1 R1

TenHut, Doktor and Mayur (GSXR 600) had a gala time yesterday. They all topped 200+...as usual I registered my humble-new top speed (although unintentional) of 176 . The best part is that, high speed doesnt feel scary and the fireblade brakes so nicely...Throught out the ride the bike makes me say just one word WOW!!!

Sagar/Ritwik thanks for joining guys. it was fun.
@Sagar. kya lean karta hai yaar tu






There are loads of pics in a friends cam. Trying to get it.

Are we really asking people to post their real life experience of dog peeing on middle of the road during full blown rains?

perverts

Every rider has seen a dog on the road and needless to explain what goes in mind ....O.F.

And 'peeing in the mid of the road' was just an expression that TenHut has used...Get over it! Spare the dog

@ashtorque- It was awsome riding with u guys too...really liked the way that u guys were riding (cautiously) on they highway. I'd like to join again sometime.

My 2 cents on the "riding in the wet"- I feel that if the roads are partially wet then it's gonna be a slide fest. But, Full blown downpour is another matter. Agreed, the grip levels will still be lower than that in the dry but ur tire will grip better than in partially wet conditions. IMO, riding a 1000 in the rains is a no no.

In all the discussion on comparo between wet & dry conditions the main query got left out.

All ash probably meant was can the blade be ridden in rains.

I think it can be.But can it be ridden the same way as in dry conditions ,than answer is obviously not.

heck even the 150-220 ccs donot perform the same way in wet & dry conditions & you don't need laptimes to prove that.

But again riding in rains constitutes an entire "experience" ,the weather,nature & all elements combined & not just riding.

so as i mentioned earlier if the only aim is to do speed runs than it's a strict no-no but if you want enjoy touring with your banshee than try it atleast once when you think that the conditions won't be too detrimental to your ride.

all of the above is based on my limited knowledge of SBKs & not actual experience of riding one in rains.

wow!! This is such a fantastic line-up, & such a fantastic picture as well.
Kudos to the photographer, & the effort put in to line up the bikes so nicely.

Any write-up on the ride/ meet up?